New Mexico land commissioner settles defamation suit over ad
SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn has reached a settlement agreement with Garrett VeneKlasen in a defamation lawsuit over 2017 political attack ads.
Aubrey Dunn’s attorney and son Blair Dunn on Monday said that settlement terms are private other than a written public apology from VeneKlasen.
The ads against Dunn were launched by VeneKlasen as he campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for land commissioner. Under the settlement, VeneKlasen says he did not intend to state that Dunn was corrupt, self-dealing or dishonest.
Dunn eventually declined to run for re-election as land commissioner and briefly campaigned for Congress as a Republican and then U.S. Senate as a Libertarian before withdrawing. Democrat state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard won election in November as land commissioner against Republican Patrick Lyons.
Artificial intelligence bill gutted by Colorado Senate as deal possible collapses
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 hours ago
Between Sunday and Monday, a hoped-for deal on the Colorado General Assembly’s main proposal on artificial intelligence regulation took a hit — and sources said it may not recover, as the issue around liability further shook the already shaky support...
Day Five of Special Session: Colorado legislature moves key measures forward
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 hours ago
As artificial intelligence legislation remained in limbo, Colorado’s legislators turned their attention on several other measures during Monday’s special session, notably debating a change to a measure bill to set aside $100 million to help lower health insurance premiums. Lawmakers also advanced...
Judge dismisses constitutional claim against detective despite ‘eyebrow-raising’ investigation into motel
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 hours ago
A federal judge on Friday dismissed a Greenwood Village motel operator’s constitutional rights claim against a detective who allegedly singled out the establishment for a criminal investigation based on its willingness to house people with disabilities long-term. Zarrin Hospitality Group,...
Trump envoy says officials working ‘very, very hard’ on ending Russia-Ukraine war
Illia Novikov
illia.novikov@associatedpress.com
Updated 9 hours ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg said in Kyiv on Monday that officials are “working very, very hard” on efforts to end the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine, as a lack of progress...
Appeals court finds no discrimination in dismissals of jurors of color across 3 cases
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 hours ago
Colorado’s second-highest court recently agreed prosecutors did not unconstitutionally remove jurors of color in three criminal cases for racial reasons. The Court of Appeals encountered significant variation in how the trial judges approached the prosecution’s dismissal of each juror. One...
Need to catch up on Colorado’s special session? Here’s what happened this weekend
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 10 hours ago
Colorado legislators worked over the weekend to debate wolf funding, money for health insurance and inoculating Planned Parenthood — at least at the state level — from looming Medicaid cuts. Here’s what you need to know. Wolf funding One key question for...
Realness Project teaches exiting inmates ‘the art of being human’ | Vince Bzdek
Vince Bzdek
vince.bzdek@gazette.com
Updated 11 hours ago
When Shawna Pierson was incarcerated at La Vista Correctional Facility, she thought she knew everything. “I was at a place where I was kind of indignant. Nobody could really teach me anything. I had it all figured out,” she told...
Trump threatens ‘harsh measures’ if Tina Peters is not released from jail
Colorado Politics
nick@midtc.com
Updated 11 hours ago
President Donald Trump is calling for the release of Colorado’s Tina Peters, a former county election official convicted for her role in a security breach of her office’s voting equipment, and threatening “harsh measures” if she doesn’t get out of jail....
Lawsuit over Colorado, Denver large building energy standards revived
Scott Weiser
scott.weiser@gazette.com
Updated 11 hours ago
The lawsuit challenging Colorado and Denver’s energy standards for large buildings, which was dismissed on March 28, has been revived by federal Judge Regina M. Rodriguez based on an amended complaint from four apartment and hotel trade groups. The order,...
Senate committee gives green (well, maybe yellow) light to artificial intelligence bill
Marianne Goodland
marianne_goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 12 hours ago
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Sunday handed Senate Bill 4, the artificial intelligence bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, a 4-3 win and moved it on to the full Senate. Whether the measure has the votes to get...
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Gardner bill would force VA to pay student veterans full benefits
Colorado’s U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner said Tuesday he plans to introduce bipartisan legislation aimed at forcing the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay benefits to student veterans who have been shorted because of the VA’s information processing and accounting difficulties. “The VA let these veterans down and this cannot be tolerated,” Gardner said in a […]
Feds question Denver's drug plan
Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks.Photo courtesy of Albus Brooks The Trump administration’s prosecutors and drug agency compared Denver’s idea to curb overdose deaths to a crack house Tuesday. Last week the City Council passed an ordinance to set up one test site for two years and provide medical supervision and access to addiction treatment, while […]